Race day, I was in charge of getting us to the race site on time, after Binbrook I decided I would be in charge of this..although the transition area was less than 500m from the condo, I knew we would be alright. Things went smoothly for all 3 of us (CS, SV and I) and we made our way down to the Sequin for 8am..I was excited for this as I think the Sequin is beautiful and we have talked about going out for a cruise on it...so it was great to be finally heading out on it. The wait to jump off the boat and into the lake was probably the worst part of the day..it was already very warm by 8:40am and standing in wetsuits was not a comfortable thing. Once we were given the signal to jump in I was happy, the water was the perfect temperature and just a little bit of chop. The Whistle of the boat signalled the start of the race waves and once we got swimming it didn't take long to settle into my rhythm..I saw SV for the first few strokes and then I was pretty much on my own..I could tell there were at least 2 people in front of me and I just focused on the buoys and staying long and smooth on my swim. It is a great lake and I really enjoyed the swim course...it is an L shape with the swim exit at the dock at Boston Pizza (they installed some floating stairs for the athletes) I hit the stairs with one other person, 3rd out of the water..it is a long run up the dock, across the street and around the back of the park to the timing mat, but it was also nice as my bike was close to the swim entrance/run exit area..I had an ok transition, still have to work on being a little quicker in there and my mount to my bike was laughable, but it got me smiling and having some fun!
The start of the bike takes you up Brown St. which is a nice kick in the butt, the first few kms were great, I am used to the roughness of Jones Rd and was prepared for having to be careful. At the first turn around I found out that I was riding in 3rd place..not bad..but then I saw SV and it was sooner than I thought I was going to see him, I greeted him with an "Oh Crap", lol...I then saw CS and RF..it was very deceiving as they seemed to be right behind me...I gave myself a pep talk..figuring I wasn't making the 18km mark before SV caught me..I told myself to just do my own race and let him catch me..nothing I could do about how fast he was riding and I waited for the pat on the bum.
I ended up having a great ride, I felt strong in all the hard areas and pushed on the fun spots..I hit the 18km point and had to smile as SV hadn't passed yet...goal reached. He caught me not long after the 2nd turn around and it was nice to see him, no pat on the bum as we were climbing and he was trying to avoid a pot hole and then he was gone....The last section is tough and I was passed by one more person, he was a duathlete and he rode by me like I was standing still....at the last turn around I realized I was less than 2 minutes behind SV...this was going to be an interesting run!
The start of the run was tough... it was really hot and humid and my quads were screaming at me and on the verge of cramping...the first km I tried to reason with them that the run wouldn't be that bad and all they had to do was 9 more km...but they know that road and the hills aren't nice...but the fuzzy peaches I ate seemed to help a little. The run was a brutal one...the heat, sun and humidity on the road on top of the hills made it challenging, there wasn't much about that run that I found enjoyable...at the halfway point I could tell I was gaining on SV and I thought it might be possible to catch him...by the 7.5km mark I had goosebumps...it was the heat getting to me...I was closing in on SV by the last big climb but I knew that if I didn't catch him by the top that I wouldn't be able to take him on the down hill (as he is way better at running down hill than I am)...he knew this too and after checking over his shoulder for me a few times he raised his arm in victory at the top of the last hill, lol...I love that we can have such fun out there even when we are both hurting!
I crossed the finish line in 3rd place, 20 seconds behind SV...18 minutes ahead of the next woman...I was pleased with my first Olympic race in over 8 years and felt strong the whole way...my quads were tired...there was nothing else I could have given on that run and it was a fun day, people out there suffering and still cheering each other on! not everyone had a great day and some had some bad mechanical problems but still it is a great event and I love the route and can see how it was voted the #1 race in Ontario...
We ended the night with a great gathering of friends to celebrate SV birthday and we got up early to cheer on friends that were racing the next morning in the sprint and try-a-tri...body felt good but man was I tired!!
No comments:
Post a Comment